Why 🐵 UnitedStatesNews-NoOpEd picked: Downtown datacenter? AI plan floated for boarded-up San Francisco mall

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Source: theguardian.com

<p>Developers propose turning San Francisco Centre into not a server-based facility but a ‘community-based AI exhibit’</p><p>Downtown San Francisco has shown signs of revival since being battered by the Covid pandemic, which led to what <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/28/san-francisco-vacant-buildings-housing-doom-loop" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer ugc" target="_blank">many called</a> a “doom loop” of vacant buildings, a worsening homelessness crisis, and dwindling public transit. But one highly visible reminder of the city’s struggle to recover remains: the San Francisco Centre mall, which sits at the heart of these urban renewal efforts and has been conspicuously <a href="https://abc7news.com/post/san-franciscans-say-goodbye-francisco-centre-permanently-shuts-doors/18460353/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer ugc" target="_blank">boarded up</a> since January of this year.</p><p>A number of ideas have been floated for the mall’s reopening, including a multi-level <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2026/09/13/san-francisco-centre-mall-basketball/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer ugc" target="_blank">sports complex</a>, <a href="https://therealdeal.com/san-francisco/2025/09/17/behemoth-san-francisco-centre-wont-see-daylight-as-housing/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer ugc" target="_blank">housing</a>, and more traditional <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2026/07/08/san-francisco-centre-mall-falls-apart/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer ugc" target="_blank">retail uses</a>. But now, another potential plan has emerged: the shuttered mall is being considered for an AI datacenter project, the San Francisco Chronicle <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/downtown-mall-data-center-ai-22480545.php" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer ugc" target="_blank">reported</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/20/san-francisco-mall-ai-datacenter" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer ugc" target="_blank">Continue reading...</a>